Control
Position Control
Position control is the actuation mode in which a robot tracks commanded joint or Cartesian positions, with servo loops rejecting disturbances to hold the setpoint regardless of required force, up to actuator limits. It is the default mode of industrial arms and excels in free-space motion, but its high stiffness makes unmodeled contact hazardous, which motivates force, impedance, or admittance control for interaction tasks.
Why it matters for physical AI
Most learned policies today output position or velocity setpoints consumed by stiff industrial-style loops, so understanding position control's contact brittleness explains why compliant control interfaces matter for contact-rich learned skills.
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